National Capital FreeNet / Libertel de la Capitale nationale

NCF Board of Directors
Minutes of Meeting
September 26, 2017 

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

  • NCF's 25th anniversary event is Thursday September 28, 2017!

Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. with Chris Cope as Chair and Graeme Beckett as Secretary.

INTRODUCTIONS

Board members present:
Christopher Cope (bz787) Chair
Peter Chapman (fx720) 1st Vice-Chair
Peter MacKinnon (fr198) 2nd Vice-Chair
Graeme Beckett (aw958) Secretary
Martin Dubois (fl152)
Jennifer Barrigar (bc839)

Regrets:
Lauren Gardner (fy923)
Diana Cantu (fz160)
Pete de Lepper (fx621)
Carole Charest (fz871)
George Munoz (fz877)  

NCF Management/Staff present:
Executive Director: Shelley Robinson

Guests:
None

Once around the table.
Informal pre-meeting conversation, with Directors taking turn offering personal views and commentary on interesting things that might not make it to the Agenda.

  1. Confirmation of Quorum

    Quorum was confirmed.
     
  2. Review of the Agenda 

    An expenditure item was added to the in-camera portion of the meeting.

    MOTION: To accept agenda as amended.
    Moved by: Peter Chapman (fx720)
    Seconded by: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
    VOTE IN FAVOR: Christopher Cope (bz787), Peter Chapman (fx720), Peter MacKinnon (fr198), Graeme Beckett (aw958), Martin Dubois (fl152)
    VOTE ABSTAINED: Jennifer Barrigar (bc839)
    VOTE: Adopted
     
  3. Review of the Minutes of the Previous Meetings

    MOTION:
     Motion to accept the minutes of August 22, 2017 as circulated.
    Moved by:  Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
    Seconded by: Martin Dubois (fl152)
    VOTE IN FAVOR: Christopher Cope (bz787), Peter Chapman (fx720), Peter MacKinnon (fr198), Graeme Beckett (aw958), Martin Dubois (fl152)
    VOTE ABSTAINED: Jennifer Barrigar (bc839)
    VOTE: Adopted
     
  4. Reports  
     
    1. Executive Director's Report (Shelley Robinson)

      Shelley distributed her ED report in advance of the meeting for both the open and in-camera sessions of the meeting. 

      Select Highlights from ED Report


      DSL MEMBERS:
      As of August 1/17: 3212 members
      As of September 1/17: 3231 members
      As of September 25/17: 3258 members
      Projection for September 1 30/17: 3268 members
      (As of September 1/16: 3071 members)
      (As of September 1/15: 2972 members)

      Operations:

      ● DSL member subscriptions continue to increase week over week
      ● We had two outages in September: very unusual for us. One was an issue with Bell service delivery. Another was a technical issue with our equipment. We alerted members via the StartPage and social media. Staff are running a post-mortem to talk about how we handled them both, more once that’s complete.
      ● our current ADSL modem (TP-Link 8961) is no longer available — investigating new modem options.

      Communications:
      ● The Low Income Services Handbook is designed, waiting for feedback from ACORN, the grant partner – will launch the book and the grant on October 26th.
      ● Met with Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) about how the Community Access Fund package is going: very successful on both sides, more than 150 subscribers. Talked about other ways we could partner.
      ● Attended Centre for Social Enterprise Development (CSED) event to discuss social procurement and the role of anchor institutions like municipalities, universities, schools and hospitals. ie. When large organizations commit to buying from social enterprises like NCF.
      ● Weekly meetings with our partners CompuCorps and Internet Society Canada Chapter (ISCC) re: Digital Access Day.
      ● Attended Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s (CIRA) AGM – NCF got mentioned as a grant recipient and I asked a question/made a comment during a panel discussion on SmartCities.

      25th anniversary:
      ●The 25th anniversary and book launch is this Thursday! So far 119 people have registered.
      ● Beau’s is donating some beer for the event. We will buy wine and pop.
      ● For the Special Occasion Permit: only registered guests can drink alcohol, two drink tickets per person, none for sale
      ●Thai food ordered, cake and cupcakes ordered, band confirmed, bartenders confirmed, glassware and tableware confirmed.
      ● Missed chance to pick up silkscreen on Sunday, now available on Wednesday: may be too late for event but can print t-shirts afterwards.
      ● Posters printed and getting pasted up around town.
      ● Confirmed speakers: Cllr Rick Chiarelli, OCH CEO Stephane Giguere, CIRA VP IT Steven Barry, NCF founder George Frajkor, Shelley Robinson.
      ● Chris Cope to MC
      ● Plan to deliver copies to local MPs, MPPs, and City councillors along with meeting. 
      ● Libraries, LAC, funders, Trico Social EnterPrize, others?
      ● Note: NCF was founded on September 29, 1992 but actually launched on February 1, 1993 so it remains our 25th anniversary next year!

      The above was the open portion/session of the Executive Director's Report.
       
    2. In-Camera Portion of the Executive Director's Report

      MOTION:
      To move in-camera.
      Moved by: Jennifer Barrigar (bc839)
      Seconded by: Peter Chapman (fx720)
      VOTE All in favor.
      VOTE: Adopted

      MOTION:
      To move out of camera.
      Moved by: Martin Dubois (fl152)
      Seconded by: Jennifer Barrigar (bc839)
      VOTE All in favor.
      VOTE: Adopted

      MOTION:
      To receive the Executive Director's Report.
      Moved by: Peter Chapman (fx720)
      Seconded by: Martin Dubois (fl152)
      VOTE All in favor.
      VOTE: Adopted
       
    3. In-Camera Expenditure Item: (Shelley Robinson)

      This item was discussed during the in-camera portion of the Executive Director's Report.

      The following link is the expenditure motion  regarding capital equipment adopted by the Board.
       
  5. Ongoing Business
     
    1. None
       
  6. New Business 
     
    1. None
       
  7. Announcements

    NCF's 25th anniversary is Thursday, 28 September 2017, Jean Piggot Place Ottawa City Hall, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
     
  8. Date of Next Meeting

    The next regular meeting will be November 4, 2017
    Location to be clarified at a later date.
     
  9. Adjournment
     

(Links that return 'not found' indicate documents that have not yet been provided by the author)